


The One Appointment We All Must Keep

by tattooedsiren



Category: Suits (TV)
Genre: Angst, Gen, M/M, Pre-Slash, donna pov
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-12
Updated: 2012-02-12
Packaged: 2017-10-31 00:03:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/337678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tattooedsiren/pseuds/tattooedsiren
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harvey gives Donna a pointed look through the glass and the message is clear: <i>don't listen</i>. She will never disregard a direct order, but that doesn't stop her from watching. Harvey sits down next to Mike and starts talking. His back is to her, so all Donna has to go on are Mike's reactions. And they aren't good.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The One Appointment We All Must Keep

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know what this is or where it came from LOL. I just had an image in my head of Donna watching Harvey and Mike have a conversation through the glass office walls and this is what happened…  
> Title comes from [this quote](http://en.thinkexist.com/quotation/death-the_one_appointment_we_all_must_keep-and/178267.html) by Earl Derr Biggers.

The One Appointment We All Must Keep

 

Donna could never say she saw this coming, but there has been a feeling deep in the pit of her stomach that something is wrong. There is no discernable reason for the feeling. On the surface everything is fine, normal, there are no bright lights or warning bells. But something is off, and try as she might, she can't figure out what it is.

She watches as Mike enters Harvey's office and collapses onto his couch. Harvey gets up and instead of joining him on the couch he crosses the room and closes his office door. Harvey gives her a pointed look through the glass and the message is clear: _don't listen_. 

Donna will never disregard a direct order, but that doesn't stop her from watching. Harvey sits down next to Mike and starts talking. His back is to her, so all Donna has to go on are Mike's reactions. And they aren't good.

At first he laughs, that kind of laughter that comes when you think the person before you is talking in jest. But then he must realise that whatever Harvey has told him is the truth, because he sobers quickly, and more than that, he looks stricken. Mike just stares as Harvey keeps talking. At one point Mike gets up off the couch, wanders to the window and stands with his back to Harvey for a good two minutes. Harvey is completely still, and she thinks that maybe he is silent and whatever they are talking about has rendered them both mute, a worrying occurrence in itself. 

But then Mike turns and he talks. The office is sufficiently soundproofed that she still can't hear what is being said but it's clear that he is angry, voice raised and gestures emphatic. Harvey just sits there, takes it, until Mike exhausts himself and sits back down beside him. He stares into space, doesn’t look at Harvey, but he reaches over and rests his hand over Harvey's, and even more unusually, Harvey lets him. Harvey must be talking because Mike nods, even as he looks at anything but Harvey.

Donna can't believe what is happening before her very eyes. She can't look away, can't stop her mind from trying to uncover all the possibilities to explain what she is seeing. For the first time in her professional life she lets several calls go to voicemail because she can't bear the interruption.

Mike finally turns and looks at Harvey, continues nodding in the appropriate places. Then Harvey stands, buttons his suit jacket. He takes a step back, but then seems to think better of it and leans down and presses a kiss to Mike's forehead. He then walks away without looking back, exiting the office and closing the door behind him.

Donna watches him leave. Harvey meets her gaze for a brief moment, and she has never seen him look more pained. But he doesn't say anything, doesn't stop, just keeps walking away in the general direction of the lifts.

Her head is starting to pound and she doesn't know what's happening but she knows that something is wrong and for once she doesn’t know what to do. She tries to return to her work but her gaze keeps shifting back to Mike, alone in Harvey's office. He is leaning back on the couch with a hand over his face and he looks completely defeated. She gives him a few minutes before giving up the pretence of work and striding into the office, closing the door behind her.

Mike looks up and as she approaches she can see his eyes are glassy and red. "How long have you known?" Mike asks, wiping an errant tear from his cheek.

"Known what?" she asks, sitting in the chair opposite him.

"That Harvey is dying."

A feeling like no other washes over her. She can't even describe it. It's like feeling suddenly cold and unbearably hot all at once. Like that feeling you get when you are walking up stairs and think there is one more step than there actually is. Like waking in the middle of the night, heart pounding from a terrible dream you can't remember. It's like nothing and everything all at once.

When Donna doesn't answer Mike gasps in realisation. "Oh God, you really didn't know." It's a statement, not a question.

Donna shakes her head, unable to speak.

"But you know everything."

"Apparently not."

Mike laughs, the noise sounding horribly hollow. "When he said no one knew I assumed that didn’t include you."

Donna nods, not really hearing him. She feels like she is going to be sick. "Tell me."

Mike starts telling her what Harvey told him. But it's like she can't exist in this world, can't concentrate on what she asked him to tell her, because her mind keeps drifting in and out of the conversation. She'll hear words like _cancer_ and _metastasized_ and _treatment options_ and _survival statistics_ and it sends her mind scurrying for safer harbours. But then that doesn’t work either, and she starts piecing everything together; the way Harvey's schedule has become more erratic lately, why he has looked a bit thinner and a bit more fatigued than usual... 

She realises at some point that Mike has stopped talking. She looks at him – he looks small and defeated and exhausted. She wonders if she looks the same way to him. She doesn't want to think about this, doesn’t want to deal with it now. Not a very mature response, but she has not survived in this industry for this long without learning to compartmentalise, and that’s what she needs to do now.

"Are you okay?" Donna asks.

"No," Mike replies. 

She reaches over, rests a hand on his shoulder. "He chose you, Mike. Out of everyone, he didn’t tell me or Jessica or anyone else, he told _you_. You need to be there for him."

"I just can't wrap my brain around the idea that…" Mike trails off, and she squeezes his shoulder and lets him go. Mike stands, starts pacing the room. "Why the hell did he choose me? I don't know how to do this. Why did he have to dump this on me?"

Donna knows that although Mike is yelling, anger clear in his voice, that’s not really what this is about. He isn't angry at Harvey, he is confused and overwhelmed and angry at the situation, but it's easier to channel all those feelings at a person rather than a disease he can't cure and a situation he can't control.

She takes pity on him, because this is a hell of a situation to be caught up in. "Mike, you've been working with Harvey for over four years now. I know you stopped buying his no emotions bullshit a long time ago. But did it never occur to you that maybe Harvey cares about you, more than he cares about anyone else?"

"No," Mike says, genuine surprise clear in his voice.

"Think about it. He has obviously been dealing with this alone for a while. And he has realised he can't do it alone anymore. He needs someone and that someone is you. So man up and do what you have to do."

And Mike smiles faintly. It's such a Donna thing to say, and its normalcy helps calm him. He nods and she stands, walks out of the office and back to the sanctuary of her desk. She tries to get back to work, but the words on her screen blur in front of her. More calls go to voicemail and she knows Harvey will ream her for this, knows that he will want things to go on as before and a little thing like him dying does not mean she has an excuse to not do her job. But she doesn't care.

Harvey returns about ten minutes later. He walks into his office without even looking at her, but Donna watches him go like a hawk. He stops in the middle of the room, seemingly shocked at Mike's continued presence. Mike stands from the couch and crosses the room, enveloping Harvey in a warm hug. Harvey doesn’t move at first, and she can see Mike whispering into his ear, and then finally movement as Harvey wraps his arms around Mike.

But then the moment is over and Mike releases him, walks out of the office. Donna stands to greet him when it becomes apparent Mike is walking to her as opposed to returning to his desk. Mike walks around into her cubicle and kisses her cheek in silent thanks before heading back to his desk. When Mike is gone, Donna looks up to see that Harvey has watched this whole exchange. And he knows that she knows, and the look he gives her is both hard and apologetic at the same time. 

She presses the buzzer on the intercom and keeps her eyes locked on his as she says, "We're going to talk about this."

He nods at her, resigned.

"Tomorrow," she adds gently, and accepting the gesture for what it is, he mouths a thankyou and they both return to their respective desks, pretending for one more night that everything is okay.


End file.
